> If you're talking about pronouncements from the financial sector, rest
> assured that I take nothing on trust. My experience of Wall Street is that
> it is a world of rigorous calculations built on the shakiest (if not
> actually imaginary) assumptions.
By all means, but you are aware that there are applications of calculus beyond economics, right?
I wouldn't compare calculus to dancing (though I do the former more than the latter), but having a good grounding in applied statistics seems more useful to nonspecialists. _How to Lie with Statistics_ is dated ("Harvard grads get $25K!") but gets the right idea. Does anybody know of more modern analogs?
-- Andy